NancyGormezano

Looks terrific - nice design! Thanks for using an image of mine, I'm honored! Nancy Garbonzo-Gorgonzola

These renders look terrific!

Hi Elm - I just realized I don't know who the protagonist is in this story! Not sure which material you are looking for, so let me know if you need different information: For Prince: I used BitmapPlus material with an image of a patch of chinese silk brocade that I made seamless, his waistband is a cylindrical decal with another image, his shoes are cylindrical decals, his hat is BitmapPlus with another image (brown gold sky/clouds), the hat poof is BitmapPlus (with rough cut wood image) Sleeping Booty body suit: cylindrical decal using snakeskin image for legacy bump map - 300%, as well as same image for 100% color, overlayed with blue/turquoise gradient image (75% color)

I like this better. What bothers me now more, is the raggy edges on the lettering on the Bus stop sign. It is inconsistent with the rest of the sign. Either the red raggy edges could be cleaned up or the rest of the sign could be grunged by making the white and red surrounds look rusty, or paint chipped as well.

Thanks Paul. I would love to illustrate a children's book. Finding, or creating a unique, interesting story is a tough hurdle for me. Could always do a classic, just for fun. There's a million of those. I am also finding that "stills" can be even more work than animating. It has to be "perfect", because the viewer gets to investigate and examine, if they decide the image is compelling, or interesting enough. Unlike animation which whizzes by, all the ooopsies are not necessarily perceived by all people. It takes scrubbing thru the frames in order to find all the flaws, mistakes, usually. Not all viewers will do that. But everyone can take their sweet time (and should) to examine a still.

Now wait just a minute here, I didn't get any reefers, as was clearly promised in the contract I signed in order to participate. Did someone get more than their fairshare? hmmm ??? I like the original poster composition better. Perhaps moving the black text "...is twenty of them" to right below the "there are a million stories", and changing text to "Here are twenty of them" and then moving all those delicious, enticing SEE teasers back up to where they were originally, might work?

Next time my neighbor's stereo is blasting, I'm calling the Air force. I never knew that was an option.

terrific - love it!

Thanks, Michel render time = 38 secs for 5 pass, 800 x 800 1 direct overhead 100% white klieg, z buffered shadows (60% dark), Ambiance Intensity =100%, color = white (may be too blown out for hightlights) FakeAO: Sample level = 3, samples = 12, distance = 25, distribute = 1, camera focal length = 250

Thanks people, much appreciated! Yes, there is. I grabbed an old model without thinking & stuck it in there. I also noticed the hole on top after posting. I decided my cover story would be that the egg was just starting to crack.

61602! Not only is it excellently done, it is fun to watch - over & over. I don't get tired of it.

It's not easy being green. Blow that puppy up! In an environmentally friendly way, of course.

Just playing...

Looks terrific!

The default interpolation method is initialized to spline for any channel (you cannot change the initial default as far as I know). However, once the channel is created, you can change the default method for that channel from spline, to zero slope, hold, linear by clicking on the default icon (click on the "hump", or the pre, or post lines to see options), or selecting the channel and selecting curve/interpolation, or pre, or post. All new cps for the channel will be added with that method You can also change the interpolation method for just selected keys - In my example the default interpolation for the x translate channel has been changed to hold, y and z are still spline. But in the Y channel I have segments that have been changed to linear

Thanks all. @Robert - Yes, they are supposed to be pot lids, not cymbals. Might have been more obvious if I had made them silver/aluminum looking, but I went with gold, cause I felt it better for color balance. Beat up garbage can lids might have also been more obvious, interesting. @Holmes - That "rodent thing" started off being a hedgehog, but then I just morphed it into a ..um.."rodent thing" because I couldn't find the right caricaturization for it. I was wanting an image suggesting cacophony ie, kids marching around, banging stuff together. My thoughts: 1) I'm not sure if I like it better with the blue background, or the white or an all black background. 2) I'm not satisfied that the flowers/roses sucessfully suggest motion, either from being thrown at them from an imagined adoring audience, or being stirred up from bouncing on the tambourine. Roses in flight probably should have had some motion trails. Just as the poses, hair on critters probably should have been more dynamic, depicting mid-stomp. 3) Face expression could have been more dynamic on the lion. 4) I wasn't happy with Rabbit's skin, as it supposed to look like a shiny satin material, so it probably could use some stitch type seams. I would want it to look more like a stuffed satin. I will probably simplify Lothario's body/face material for animating, as the weave might be too distracting for communicating face expressions. Stylized hair "toot"? ...uh...I seriously don't have a formal/prescribed method. I just play with all sorts of unexpected combos, ad nauseum. Maybe I'll start with specific character(s), already done and show what was done to achieve the look, & then how to change the look, as well as how I probably started the exploration. Maybe I'll take "rodent thing" and turn him into an even stranger rodent thing...Yeah, that sounds evil enough... Thanks Dwayne, Steve, Shelton Steve, Rodney, Robcat, Holmes for your comments!

I like! Sounds like a "enter anything you want animation festival by a due date". And for fun, perhaps add some unique, not-so-serious, honorable or dishonorable awards (to be suggested at close of contest): For example only: 1) Most creative violations of every animation rule ever invented 2) Least or Most likely to get approval from anyone's mother 3) Most likely to make the most puppies cry 4) Best use of Zombies doing Zumba since the dawn of time 5) etc

Wonderful - looks terrific, love the pace, camera work, render style - Congrats!

The 2011 Mascot contest is over, so just for completeness, here is/was my entry (with different background): Meet Mary Agnes and the Hickenloopers. I intend to start an exercise for myself, to develop stronger, better "golden" poses, more interesting facial expressions (using Lothario), and maybe do a short vignette or 2 or more of acting moments. It might develop into a story I have in mind, influenced by a recent trip to Amargosa Opera House (in Death Valley) but we shall see how enthused, or distracted I become.

Everyone who enters wins a prize. Many decades ago (sept '06), Hash had an active TWO recruitment effort going on, and at the time, there was a sci-fi? image contest where anyone who entered (with a reasonable entry, no bogus crap) got a free copy of Cristin McKees Animating CD series (forget the name). I'm not a spacey, sci-fyey type o' enthusiast, had never thought of entering that type of image contest, but being a greedy little devil, I sure entered that one. AND, as a side effect, it got me interested in participating in TWO. Much to the chagrin of others I'm sure.

I liked your entries John. I prefer motor mouth one without the legs, its less confusing, better design. Tho I admit I was surprised to not see any Boopsies in your entries. Motor mouth is a great character. I thought the kitty one was very creative, and loved it as an ad, but I also felt "bile flavor" sent the wrong message. "Heart and brain" flavor might be more palatable.

Nice new set! Nice composition. Lara needs to be looking more intense, and at the tiger - as it is now she appears to be daydreaming. Perhaps it is just another day at the office for her. I like the blur - gives a nice action feel

For my own growth, I am feeling like I need to work on more creative keyposes and storylines as well as animation timing, technique, gags. Ok.OK. OK. I need to work on everything. So for seed idea(s) I am about to start interpreting "acting moments". For interpreting these moments, I want to do a pose or bunch of poses to indicate the moment, perhaps different interpretations of the same moment, or a sequence of poses. If I get jazzed about any of the ideas, I might expand the moment, and animate it, turn it into a short vignette thing. The point of the exercise, besides practicing, is to get the juices going. Me personally, I prefer informal "contests", not competitive - no prizes, no stress, nothing required from Rodney, Jason...Perhaps there could be just threads devoted to an acting moment challenge, that anyone can post to at anytime, get feedback (or not). It's always interesting for me to see the different interpretations of the same thing. (but not 200+ animations with the same dialog - all in one swoop). Regardless, I am getting my seed acting moment ideas from things like this

Nice! Much better!

There are start, stop frame numbers in the render options for the camera as well as a step option (normally 1) - if you want every other frame it would be set step = 2. I have never tried step 3 or 4 but I suspect that would work as well